


Love at First Sight (of Clint Barton's Ass)

by EVVS



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Blood, Gunshot Wounds, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Stitches, Winterhawk Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-21
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-22 17:01:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4843307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EVVS/pseuds/EVVS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As if his life isn't difficult enough, his soulmark is on his ass. Which means, at this point, too many people have seen Clint Barton's ass.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love at First Sight (of Clint Barton's Ass)

**Author's Note:**

> Winterhawk Week 2015 - Day 1: Love at First Sight

For Clint, it's like watching the rest of the world go around without a single problem. And then there's him, drowning in a sea of troubles and pretending like nothing is wrong, typical. Sad, but typical.

It's like everyone knows what the fuck is going on in their lives. Steve and Tony hooked up. Soulmates across generations, who would've thought. And then there's Darcy and Wanda, and man, if Ultron hadn't happened, they never would've met up. Sam and Maria, gettin' some. How convenient for them to have met up, and how lucky Maria is that her soulmark is on her face, really easy to spot.

Most people are lucky. Most people get their soulmarks on their hands or on their arms, sometimes even their shoulders. The neck is especially easy, just pull your shirt aside and see if it works. Simple.

Clint, in his puddle of misery, has his on his ass. Oh yeah, it's that bad.

It's exhausting. He can't just flash his ass at people and be like, "Are you my soulmate?" Because, for one, that's illegal in most places, and for two, he likes his ass covered most of the time, thank you.

It's be easier if people didn't have to see it for it to kick in. There's no matching. There's no system. It's just a mark that, when your soulmate sees it, they're just supposed to _know_. It's like a sixth sense, knowing which mark is meant for you and know exactly what it was. And how cruel is the world that makes it so Clint has to show off his ass in order to have people say "Nah, not your soulmate, sorry" because that's just awkward. There are far too many people in this world who have seen Clint Barton's ass.

It's at a point where it's depressing.

What might be more depressing is the fact that Clint got shot in the ass on mission, right where his soulmark is, and maybe it’s just a little embarrassing that Bucky had to carry him back to the safehouse while Clint bitched the whole way about how he could walk on his own; Bucky just complained that he wouldn’t be fast enough.

So when they actually get back to the safe house, Bucky kind of tosses Clint facedown onto the bed before muttering, “I’ll grab the first aid kit.” And his heavy steps echo through the room as he plods his way down the hall to the bathroom.

Clint groans into the blankets before propping himself up with his elbows and hoping that he isn’t getting any blood on the bed because Bucky has to sleep here tonight while Clint crashes on the couch. If he gets blood on the bed, Clint will never hear the end of it because if there’s anyone who bitches more than Clint, it’s Bucky. 

And those heavy footsteps come back through the doorway while Bucky gives a gruff, “Let’s get this taken care of.” He lives the no bullshit lifestyle, and Clint can respect that. Bucky drops the first aid kit next to Clint’s legs.

There’s a second where nothing happens, and then Clint realizes. “Oh.” And he shifts so he’s laying back down. Then he moves his hands so that his thumbs are under the waistband of his pants and his boxers, and he starts to wiggle his wounded ass out of them. To diffuse the tension over the fact that he’s exposing himself to Captain America’s best friend, he laughs, “I hope my soulmate’ll still be able to identify me even with a bullet hole in my mark.”

He hears Bucky suck in a deep breath. “Uh, I don’t think that’ll be a problem, Barton.”

Clint grins before going to prop himself back up on his elbows. “Yeah? Did the bullet miss?” It doesn’t feel like it missed, but hey, Bucky’s the one who can actually see the bullet and how bad it is. Clint just knows it hurts like a motherfucker-

“No, it hit dead center.” It sounds like he’s trying to be funny right back, but there’s a pensiveness in his words, which only makes sense when he continues, “But I can still identify you even with a bullet in your ass.”

There’s a few seconds of processing. Then: “Oh.”

It’s silence in the air for a few long moments as neither of them move. Then, eventually, Bucky sits down next to Clint and starts to pull things out of the first aid kit to begin wiping away the blood.

Clint’s asscheeks are clenched because he’s way more self-conscious than he thought he would be at this point, especially at the thought that it’s his soulmate patching up the bullet hole in his ass. That’s not uncomfortable whatsoever, obviously. But after a second, he finds his voice again. “Can I see yours?” he asks because he wants to know what the rush feels like, that heartbeat of knowing that someone- Bucky- was designated by the universe to be his one true love, whatever that was supposed to mean, and he’d been waiting his whole life for that feeling-

The cleaning of his wound stops. “It was…” Bucky sounds uneasy. “It was on my arm.”

 _Shit._ “I’m sorry,” breathes Clint as he feels like his guts are twisting up inside him, but he knows he can’t take it back. “I didn’t know-“

“I know.” And he goes back to cleaning the bullet hole before digging around in the first aid kit, and Clint hears the metallic noises from tweezers. “I’m gonna pull the bullet out, you good with that?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Clint mumbles. He’s done this plenty of times before, usually on himself, but it’s weird when Bucky gently grabs his asscheek, which causes it to clench up more, and that makes the wound sting more.

“Relax.” Bucky sounds… soothing.

That’s weird. But Clint doesn’t have much time to process it because suddenly he’s gripping the bedsheets as his ass stings. “ _Fuck_ ,” he hisses through his teeth, breath hitching in his throat.

There’s a soft laugh that sounds more like a snort from Bucky, and damn if Clint wishes he could see Barnes’ face right now. Then the soldier says, “Y’kno, this wouldn’t be as weird if it were under different circumstances.”

Clint has no shame and actually coughs out a laugh even though his ass hurts and he’s in one of the most awkward positions he’s ever been in. Soulmate patching up his ass. “You trying to insinuate something?”

He can hear that snorting snicker again. “Maybe a little bit.” And now that the bullet’s out, the hand on his ass is more caressing instead of holding him still. “This isn’t a bad position to have you in.”

“You’re awful quick to jump on this,” observes Clint, but then he has to bite his lip because there goes the needle, starting to stitch up the wound. It stings. Not as much as it could because Bucky’s being very gentle, but it still stings.

“More like I’ve been thinkin’ about you for a while,” says Bucky lowly, almost sounding self-conscious. “Figured I wouldn’t find my soulmate without my mark, and I thought you didn’t have a mark, so maybe…” He leaves it hanging there in the air.

“You’ve had a crush on me?” asks Clint after a second, turning slightly to try and look up at Bucky, but the soldier’s dark hair is hiding his face, so Clint can’t read him.

“Don’t move,” Bucky instructs gruffly before holding Clint in place a little more firmly, clearly avoiding the question.

Clint cannot complain about any of this. Except his ass stings. Once he feels Bucky pushing the needle through his skin again, still gentle, Clint goes, “Maybe we can try this again some time without me being shot in the ass.” Now that he knows Bucky’s interested, he can play all his cards and come on strong.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

That night, Clint doesn’t have to sleep on the couch.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a slut for Soulmark AUs but I can't write them worth a crap. Oh well.
> 
> Hopefully this will be the roughest prompt for the entire week, the others have all been so much easier


End file.
